With distractions like social media, peer pressure, or the need to combine study and work, maintaining productivity can become a real struggle. It just seems like 24 hours isn’t enough.
Let’s face it; there’s no way to create more time in the day, but what you can do is create better ways to be productive. If you agree, here are nine useful tips to boost your studying productivity.
One of the first steps to boosting your productivity is to find that “place” where you can concentrate. Your dormitory isn’t the right place, especially if you have a noisy roommate or are easily drawn to take a nap since your bed is there. Some people can’t study in a dorm, even if it’s quiet.
In addition to finding that suitable place, you also want to know what time you’re more productive. Some people can cover a lot between 12 am and 4 am, while some people can’t just stay awake at night.
So, whether you are studying to get a medical degree or you plan to enrol for a masters in education, knowing the time you function better and taking advantage of it can help boost your studying productivity.
Yes, some people procrastinate because they don’t prioritize what’s more important at a particular period. However, many students also make this mistake because they overestimate their capabilities.
Maybe you’re brilliant or even a genius. However, unless you have some secret supernatural power, everyone has limits. You’re not new to your studying capabilities, so you know how many pages you can read and assimilate in an hour.
You also know it can sometimes take a while to find the right information and put it together into a meaningful essay or research paper. So, assuming you’ll pull it off without considering the scope of what you want to cover may not end well. This is why it’s best to avoid procrastination.
This tip is a sequel to the one above. If you find that you procrastinate a lot, perhaps, you have too much stuff on your plate. If so, you can batch-cover your deliverables instead of postponing them to a particular time or day to do it all at once.
To do this, know the scope of the work. Then, divide what you need to get done into batches and designate (for example) an hour or two per day to get it done. If you wait for a time to do it all at once, you may not have enough time, which can lead to panic or delivery of poor quality.
Once you have a study plan, you should maximize the time you have apportioned for study. It’s one thing to sit down and study: it’s another thing to be productive. That said, one of the study productivity killers is a distraction.
Regardless of whether it’s social media, gaming, or spending time with friends, you should clear your known distraction once it’s time to study. If it’s social media, go radio silent. If possible, keep your phone at home and head to the library.
If it’s a friend, the best course of action is not to study around them since they might just come up with the need to go to a party or play video games.
Yes, you have a lot to cover, but you don’t want to burn out. If you happen to have a large course content and you have to spend as many as six to ten hours a stretch to study or write papers/essays, regular breaks are recommended.
Whether you hit a mental block or not, short breaks will help you refresh, coming back with a clearer and more relaxed mind. This tip can help you have a fresh perspective or new idea.
Sometimes, you may be willing to be productive, but your body may just say no. So, you should take care of yourself so that you can be physically healthy to be productive. For starters, don’t mess with your sleep.
Your brain needs adequate sleep or rest to function properly. Avoid overstretching your limits. It may end up counterproductive. You should also adopt a healthy diet and take care of your mental health by having a healthy study and life balance.
This tip is more like training your brain to become productive in certain conditions. For example, some people choose music. It doesn’t have to be music with lyrical content that could cause distraction.
It could just be the sound of a piano, guitar, or jazz. Some people light up scented candles and study in the fine aroma.
By repeatedly studying during these specific conditions, the brain, being an organ that understands and complies with routine, can easily help you switch into a productive state whenever your ritual condition is set.
Research shows that taking notes while studying can be an effective way of assimilating instead of just reading long stretches of text. It’s found that the brain becomes more active as you take down notes of what you are reading in your own formed words.
This way, the brain locks in more information, solidifying or owning the information.
Just as taking notes helps your study productivity, teaching what you have read to someone also makes you own the information well. In fact, you don’t have to teach it to someone that’s studying the same course as you. It could be someone new to what you are studying.
This way, your brain uses simpler ways to explain to the hearer. If you can make a layman understand what you have read, it means you have a perfect understanding and have owned the material. You can imagine an audience if you don’t have someone to teach it to. It’s also effective.